Mr March

Hehehe. Nice little Valkyries, all in a row

This looks like a much more reserved and darker costume than the other Batman live action productions. I like the smaller ears and the less obvious symbols. While I do like Tim Burton's flair for the strange and retro, I think this film will take a much more serious look at the psychology of the Batman/Bruce Wayne character and hopefully weave a very interesting detective thriller...something that oddly enough has not yet been done with Batman on film. He is, after all, the worlds greatest detective (no disrespect to good ole Holmes of course)

Hai. http://www.anime.net/macross/feedback/index.html The statement is: Now, this says to me that ECA (Energy-Converting Armor) is avaliable in all modes. However, in battroid mode, the system increases the amount of power going to the system. This is probably due to the fact that a battroid would not have the speed or manueverability as fighter or GERWALK, so the need for stronger armor is necessary to compensate for the decreased speed and movement capability. I agree. The SW-AG is probably active all the time, but works more in battroid mode than the others. Or, it could be that the Valkyries are simply contructed of something like hypercarbons that given them incredible structural strength naturally in Fighter and Gerwalk and the SW-AG is actually an augmentation to that. Which would make a Valkyrie far more robust than even I originally thought.

Yeah, what he/me said

The darker background and model seems to look better, but this is pretty good. Thanks for the big res, you're my hero

Well like I said, if Roy can blast a Regult to scrap with just one burst of the VF-1S head lasers, I'd call that an effective weapon against the primary enemy mecha.

Where is this stated? I think Cyclops was invented to justify why SDF-1 came to Earth. Even as a decoy, it received a signal from the AFOS and responded. Anyway, mind the show. Things detected by Cyclops so far: AFOS (by UN-Spacy, beginning of the story) Sara singing (by Aries) AFOS' body (by Ivanov) AFOS' head (by Nora. The famous PCS) Nobody still picked up a Valkyrie using the Cyclops. What should the Cyclops detect? Nuclear reaction? They aren't there. Alien technology? Kinda, but VF-0 is made on Earth. How do you tell it to specifically detect a valk? The pic shows what Cyclops can identify. No Valkyries in the hangar. So far only the SV-51 showed it had a Cyclops. The VF-0 doesn't have a purpose for it. At least do you agree that in GERWALK and in Fighter mode the armor is three times less effective but the speed is three times greater? This are indeed speculations (based on real data, though), but SW-AG was not a necessity. It was made on purpose. Anyway, why were Zentradies able to build the stealthiest Valkyries (VF-17, YF-21)? Maybe because Zents' mechas (ie: Regult) were already stealthier than a VF-1 (stronger active stealth, all Macross' enemies have it) and they just kept the habit? Did you ever think of that? I feel there is something of Macross we have not understood, or to better tell it, it was told only in some dark corner while no-one was listening to Kawamori. What we thought it was new in later shows, it is actually founded on old Macross' basis. FV Where was it stated otherwise? Just because an established technology isn't mentioned repeatedly over and over again, doesn't mean it's suddenly not there. I don't beleive the term OT Thermo Nuclear Raction Engine was ever specifically stated in the Macross Plus OVA or film, but we certainly understand as Macross fans that the Valkyries use them for engines. The cyclops is the new radar for the UN Spacy. Aries said as much in her briefing and the technology has even been perfected to the point that personnel can use hand-held versions of the device. The VF-0 showed the SV-51 detected upon it's screen several times. Since, in the Macross universe, conventional radar cannot detect active stealth systems, it's obvious the cyclops is in use. But like any electronic detection system, it can be foiled by equally advanced OT ECM. Regarding the SWAG armor, the Macross Compendium does state it's used in Battroid mode for increased armor strength. However, at no time does it state the WAG is exclusive to battroid mode. Also, Roy states in the Macross Zero Episode 1 that the SWAG armor makes the Valkyries as tough as a tank....but the Valkyrie he pointed at was in Fighter mode at the time and he never said anything about needing to be in any particular mode. Needless to say, it does make more sense (as a pilot) to use the Valkyrie's power for speed and manuvering in fighter and Gerwalk modes rather than wasting it on armor. The SWAG was certainly a necessity of design. The Valkyries could not have performed some of the feats of structural strength they did in the series/films without it. There had to be some explanation. Hikaru flew his Valkyrie in Gerwalk mode through a bridge without harm in DYRL, through a city block of buildings in SDF Macross episode 1, scrapping along the ground upside down in Gerwalk mode, and crashed into the ground how many times. Yet the Valkyrie was largely intact. Same with Isamu in Macross Plus when Guld forced the VF-11 to crash. Isamu walked away with a bump on his cheek. There had to be some explanation why these aircraft remianed in one piece, while any conventional aircraft would have been shattered to pieces trying those stunts. The answer is simple, the SWAG armor and it's obvious it can be used in modes outside the Battroid.

Almost all franchises are guilty of this. Product isn't pushed because it's necessarily good art, or good "Star Wars." It's created and sold because there is demand for it. Personally, I've never understood why so many fans cling to the extended universe like they have...for any franchise really. Law of diminishing returns rules and eventually it all sucks, even if the quality is good, simply because humans are naturally creatures of change. But obviously some fans are buying it, since it's continuially produced. Just not me Then again, I suppose I shouldn't be so jaded. After all, the thousands of crap products sold for the SW franchise does mean they allow for funding of the very few good products like Jedi Knight games or Saxton's Cross Section books

Impressive! I'm curious if the ship requires extra non-lego parts to maintain the structure when you lift it. I don't think it would really hold together all that well, unless it was completely solid.

The cyclops is not a one-time technology made for Mac 0, anymore than OT Thermo Nuclear engines, energy converting armor, or transformation are never seen anywhere else. Further, the system is enhanced but not infallable. There could have been any number of circumstances why the UN SPacy forces could not detect the Anti-UN including knowing where to look, range, ECM). Kawamori's inspiration for Macross is clearly Gundam, giant robot shows, and real world aviation. But these vague thirds and fractions make no sense and I see no pattern beyond mere coincidence. Why is the weight two thirds and not the calibur on a GU-11, or the width of a Valkyries foot Energy converting armor was a necessity of design. Inspired by Gundam...quite possibly. Is the SWAG armor two thirds as strong as Gundarium or a fraction....that would be a negatory I'm sure it's fun fan speculation, but I'm unaware of any official quote or publication stating these obscure connections.

The head lasers in SDF Macross are seen used to actually destroy Regult Battlepods. I beleive in the first episode Roy is shown blasting a Regult to pieces with just the head lasers on his VF-1S. They are also used extensively in fighter mode and can be seen in action during many of the battle sequences. The head laser's primary purpose is anti-aircraft/spacecraft. The head lasers are undoubtedly dependant upon the power used to operate the fusion engines of the Valkyrie so it would draw power as it's used more and more. The lasers can also overheat if fired continuously for extended periods of time, as seen in Episode 10 "Blind Game." So even though the lasers may have much more effective ammunition than a gunpod or the missile loadout, they certainly not without limitations.

Oh yeah, it rocks by the way

As always, I must ask "Is there a 1280x1024 version or higher?" Hope I'm not too much of a pest, but I run my 21" monitor at high res

Fantastic!

I can answer this question (in a way, my previous post already did). Simply put, the cost to benefit was not enough to justify melee weaponry on a Valkyrie until the early 2040's. The military is still ruled by necessity and budget. If the Valkyries only enter melee combat in 5% of all battle situations, what sense is there for the military to spend exorbiant amounts of money on R&D for melee weapons on Valkyries? Makes more sense for the UN Spacy to just build more Valkyries, more missiles, better guns, etc. Now by the 2040's, the UN Spacy was no longer at war and was enjoying a period of expansion and economic growth. Eden in particular was booming according to the Macross Plus series. So they could probably afford to indulge in more expensive equipment for the Valkyrie, including spending money to outfit Valkyries like the VF-11 with Anti-Mecha bayonets. Hell the YF-21 and YF-19 were super fighters testbeds packed with all kinds of crazy, cutting edge technology. It's possible the order of battle had also changed in the 2040's and more mecha found themselves in melee combat for whatever reason. Demand and economic viability is pretty much what necessitated the shift.

Cyclops radar detects PCS or the like, not Valkyries. It detected the AFOS, no-one talked about detecting a SV-51. Indeed, Valkyries have also technology to counter radar ECM. They use IR, laser pointers and the like. Yes, it all comes back to Gundam. Even energy converting armor was on that line. It took me a while to understood how it was meant. In this thread I talked about how VF-1's stats were supposed to be read. FV The F-14's in Macross Zero were completely unable to track the SV-51. Once the VF-0 came into play, the Cyclops systems on the Valkyrie had no trouble tracking and launching missiles against the SV-51's Active Stealth system. This also follows in Macross Plus, as the YF-21 was virtually undetectable to the VF-11, but the newer YF-19 had no trouble locking on to the YF-21 or tracking it. As for the coincidental comparison of a Valkyrie to a Gundam, I have no idea what that is supposed to mean. Two thirds of this and two thirds of that is irrelevant to the points I'm trying to make. The Valkyrie was given stats to mimic modern aircraft, a passion of Kawamori's. The size of the Valkyrie, the weight of the Valkyrie, the thrust of the Valkyrie, the ammunition of a Valkyrie all more closely resemble that of a modern combat aircraft and not by mutiples or fractions of Gundam mecha. Kawamori liked mecha for certain, but the Valkyries are clearly drawn from aircraft lineages and use such real world conventions. Macross Zero was simply the first time in the Macross franchise that the plot required Kawamori to supply the audience with a clear indication of just how advanced the tranforming Valkyries were over modern technology. We as the audience had to see and needed to be told the reasons why they created these technological marvels and why the Valkyries were so superior to a conventional fighter craft. Suspension of disbeleif demanded that the script be heavily laden with exposition.

This once again confirms the path the prequel films will take and that the Sith are ultimately at the center of the fall of the Republic. Not too many new revelations are present, but this introduction by Lucas does explain the reason Ben was referred to as "General Kenobi" in the original films. A very nice wrap on that open thread. I wonder how exactly the Jedi are wiped out. Are the Jedi killed through attrition in the Clone Wars or are they just being thinned out for the final blow to come once Anakin becomes Vader? I can see the birth of the Rebel Alliance being a very key event in the completion of the story arch. From a writer's perspective, it serves as the event that bridges the two trilogies into a single epic saga.

Loving it.

Nausicaa is amazing. Certainly my favorite of the Ghibli films, but I'm also a huge fan of Nausicaa in general, including the Manga. I've also seen Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. Both were great films. Not sure if I'd want to see that many more of them. Spirited Away is about as "young" as I like to get

I'm sure I'm not alone when I say I am a huge film fan beside being an anime fan and I couldn't fathom abusing my purchases by trashing the cases. I adore some of my film cases, especially the Limited Edition boxed set of Memento, The Special Edition of Fargo, the fabric bound case for Lawrence of Arabia, or my Amelie case. Why anyone would toss the cases of these great films on DVD is beyond me, so I guess that leaves both of us shaking our heads.

He also just physically overpowered them, though. Which is a prime example of why they should not, under any circumstances, be given melee weapons. They aren't PHYSICALLY tough enough to go hand-to-hand with an unarmed man of equivalent size. Britai was the exception, not the rule. Keep in mind, Britai was larger, stronger, and built more powerful than the average Zentradi. When Max was in his VF, he had no trouble overpowering Zentradi grunts in melee. In fact, the physical strength of a Valkyire seems to be much greater than the comparable strength of an average Zentradi. In fact, at full power, it would be doubtful that a Zentradi could damage a VF in hand-to-hand. Britai was laying the boots to Hikaru and did no real damage until the Valkyrie was penetrated by a spiked wall. All the current cases of Zentradi damaging a VF have been successful only after other significant damage was sustained (the spiked wall piercing Hikaru's VF in his fight with Britai, Roy's VF being shot in the chest with a beam gun prior to Kamjin's melee attack, etc).

But remember, the Cyclops radar was able to detect Active Stealth on the SV-51, whereas conventional radar on the F-14's couldn't see anything. Also, the Cyclops can see underwater, a medium that nulifies conventional radar.

The nature of warfare is different in the Macross universe than in the Gundam universe as is the advancement of technology. This changes the order of battle. In the Gundam universe (as was already mentioned), the field of battle has narrowed and radar has been hampered severely through the discovery of Minovsky Particles. This by no means nullifies long range combat (as Graham was so quick to point out, and Keith with specific examples from Zeta Gundam) but it does have a serious impact on the overall effectiveness of ranged warfare. Thus, the possibility of hand-to-hand is once again a reality of combat, since close quarters battle occurs much more frequently in the Gundam universe. The mecha in Gundam are also heavy and very large and mostly ground based unless in a vacuum. Thus their options as far as retreat and tactics are limited to an infantry role. Not all the time, but often enough combat will be in melee range and occurs enough to justify the use of beam sabers, heat hawks, and shields. In the Macross univers, the field of battle has actually expanded and detection technology has advanced rather than regressed. The development of fold technology, super long range weaponry like the Macross cannon, and Cyclops Cross-Dimensional radar systems have advanced detection of the enemy and increased range of opportunity to levels far outside modern combat. Also, combat mecha have increased in speed and manuverability and a single mecha is able to engage not just upon land, but air, sea, and space without outside tertiary support. As a result, direct fire energy weaponry, high velocity gunpods, and most importantly missiles are the necessity of the modern Macross warfare. Different directions for different visions of future warfare. Hence, different mecha.

A little stuck up aren't we? Not at all. Just hoping this fella will do something different with his tatoo and not the same old, same old. The status quo is so boring

I can't say I'm surprised it took this long. There was no way EA was going to pander to Microsoft's whim, and Microsoft is used to getting its way. The sports franchises are EA's big cash cow and basically they rule over them. If you want EA sprots, you do what EA wants. It's funny to see two monopolies go head to head